But God had other plans. The very day of my graduation, my husband received a phone call from his boss letting him know that he could not transfer; he had to continue to work in his home state, New Jersey. My heart sank…

In the last year Ojalá Foundation held over 52 bilingual classes, 4 seminars taught by religious leaders, 12 community potlucks, 6 programs about Latino Muslims at different Islamic centers, fed more than 1800 home-cooked meals, given out hundreds of blankets, sleeping bags, socks, gloves and tents along with a few thousand hand and foot warmers, and successfully executed 4 neighborhood clean-ups.

As such, it is no wonder that Islam has found fertile ground in Cuba, located in the Caribbean Sea, only 90 miles away from Florida. For years, Muslim international students have interacted with the locals and taught them about their religion, some even establishing spaces for worship in private residences.

As a mother of a preteen, who gets easily hooked on cartoon characters and conventional superheroes, I not only wanted, I needed the movie, Bilal, to work. I desperately wanted the hero in the film to replace his constant chattering about Superman, Dragon Ball Z, and Ninjago.

They must have thought I would not understand them, confusing me for Arab or South Asian, so I stood silently waiting, half smiling. “Mira como los hombres rezan solos y ellas separadas (Look how the men pray alone and keep them [the women] separated,” the older gentleman remarked. The younger man shrugged and continued to work.

Descubrí el Islam tras conocer a una amiga egipcia y compartir con su familia musulmana en varias ocasiones. Despertó en mí una curiosidad por la religión cuando los vi rezar y pregunte sobre sus creencias.

The Islamic calendar consists of twelve months, the first of which is the month of Muharram. The name “Muharram” is derived from the word “haram,” which means forbidden or impermissible, as it is considered unlawful to engage in any war or fighting during this month.

The year 2019 is only a few weeks in and already has its very own social media challenge, the “How Hard Did Aging Hit You Challenge,” with its accompanying hashtags, the #10YearChallenge, #2009vs2019, or for the more seasoned veterans, #1999vs2009. The goal?

For new Muslims nothing can be more daunting than dealing with family members’ reactions to the decision of converting to Islam. Parents, siblings, and other relatives can either shun their newly-Muslim family member, ask very tough questions…

One of the many things that she did that I am grateful for until this day is allowing my friend and I to vent our frustrations by performing spoken poetry in front of the class, or what we thought at the time were cool rap songs that we composed. It was the early 90’s and the topic of our amateur lyrics was Operation Desert Storm.

Before Muslims take a stand against xenophobia in the U.S., we really need to eradicate it from our own community. There. I said it. There is no nice way to put it. Muslims can be very intolerant of those outside their circles, particularly our Latino neighbors. How do I know?

Imagine you are invited to a formal gathering at a famous celebrity's house, a powerful political leader's mansion, or a dignitary from a royal family – maybe even the King, himself has summoned you to his palace. You have been chosen as one of the guests of honor.

Somos testigos de la realización de esta profecía hoy en día, ya que el Islam sigue extendiéndose desde el este hacia el oeste, incluyendo América del Norte y del Sur, donde el número de musulmanes se duplicará para el año 2030, según las estadísticas.

We are witnessing the realization of this prophecy today, as Islam continues to spread from the East to the West, including North and South America, where the number of Muslims will more than double by the year 2030, according to statistical projections.

Their xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric questioning the allegiance and morality of Muslims and Latino immigrants is reminiscent of the Second Red Scare during the McCarthy era, in which a hysterical fear of communists (Reds) caused panic throughout the U.S.

September 15 to October 15 marked the 30th National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States, a month-long tribute established by President Ronald Reagan on September 14, 1989. It is, therefore, worth reflecting on the important presence of Latin American Muslims who represent the fastest-growing population of Muslims in the United States.

I embraced Islam at the age of 20…Now that I am approaching 40, I have spent almost half of my life as a Muslim; and looking back on my journey, I wish I would have done a few things differently. I decided to write a list of 7 things I would tell my 20-year-old, new Muslim self:

Me hice musulmana a la edad de 20 años….Ahora que me acerco a los 40 he pasado casi la mitad de mi vida como musulmana; y echando la vista atrás en mi viaje, desearía haber hecho algunas cosas de manera diferente. Por eso he decidido escribir una lista de 7 cosas que le diría a mi nuevo yo musulmán de 20 años:

La fe islámica es monoteísta, significando que es una creencia basada en la existencia de un solo Dios como el Ser Supremo y Todopoderoso, Creador del universo, causa y fin último de toda la creación.

Yo era una extraña en un ambiente desconocido y para una adolescente, esto era algo devastador. Más que nunca, necesitaba confiar en mi fe para superar esta dificultad.